Today only - Earn 10x AIR MILES Reward Miles site wide for online purchases made via AIR MILES Shops

 

If you haven't completed all your Christmas shopping yet take a look at getting some of it done today as AIR MILES has brought out a one day flash offer of 10x miles site wide on airmilessshops.ca! 

December 15 Update: Hilton Diamonds can gift Gold Elite Status, Air Canada offering Biometric boarding out of SFO, another Cobalt multiplier & two new Amex offers

Here's your Rewards Canada Daily update! Your daily dose (or near daily dose) of loyalty program, credit card and travel news, bonuses, deals and more. This update is brought to you by the HSBC World Elite Mastercard.

Do you have Hilton Honors Diamond status? If so you should have received an email from Hilton letting you know that you can gift Gold elite status to a family member or friend for a year. This is normally a benefit that you receive as a Diamond member after you complete 60 stays so this is a nice gift for this year where it would be tough to reach that many nights.

You can now redeem Aeroplan points for inflight Wi-Fi on Air Canada

Air Canada Aeroplan sent out news today revealing the launch of their first extra perk that they have been highly taunting us with since the revealing of the new program earlier this fall. The perk is a new redemption option where you can now redeem Aeroplan points for Wi-Fi onboard Air Canada flights.

[OFFER EXPIRED] New targeted offer for the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card - Up to 20,000 points + first year free

THIS OFFER HAS EXPIRED

If I recall correctly it has been a good six months or more since we've seen RBC push out any enhanced offers for their flagship RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card but now we finally have one albeit a targeted one. Once again a big thank you to Anik D. for alerting us to this offer!

Based on the terms and conditions from the offer landing page this offer appears to come from either an email and/or mail out being sent out to select Canadians as it states the following:

Surprising value out of Amex's new no fee card when you use it for Marriott stays

Last week on December 9th American Express re-launched their Choice Card from American Express. This was a card that was offered nearly a decade ago and shut down for new applications after only a few years of being in the market. The launch of this card marks American Express Canada's reentry into the no annual fee card space with a card that earns Membership Rewards points. The only other no annual fee cards that Amex offers currently are the SimplyCash Card which is a cash back card and the Essential card which is low interest card with no rewards. 

And contrary to what you might read on some forums - this card has its place and it can provide suprisingly good value!

Air Canada Aeroplan and Chase are launching a co-branded Mastercard in the U.S.

This post is for our readers from the U.S. and of course for our Canadian readers who play the U.S. credit card game! Air Canada just announced they will be partnering with Chase in the U.S. to offer an Air Canada Aeroplan Mastercard in the U.S. This will mark the airline program's reentry into the U.S. market and not only will there be an Aeroplan co-brand card with Chase, Aeroplan will also become a partner in Chase's Ultimate Rewards program.

December 11 Update: Alaska Airlines reveals oneworld benefits for Mileage Plan elite members, American Airlines to offer Elite Choice Rewards & changes to Avianca's LifeMiles program

 Here's your Rewards Canada Daily update! Your daily dose (or near daily dose) of loyalty program, credit card and travel news, bonuses, deals and more. This update is brought to you by the HSBC World Elite Mastercard.

 
Earlier this week Alaska Airlines revealed what their Elite Mileage Plan members will receive as oneworld tier status in the global alliance. The airline officially joins oneworld on March 31, 2021 and the matching oneworld tier status happens automatically at that time. Here is how the status will line up:

Air Canada Gifts with Travel Promo - Double Points, Free Checked Bag or Free Seat Selection when booking Air Canada flights (Book by 12/15, travel by 6/30)

 

Earlier this week Air Canada came out with another holiday offer - this time for booking flights within Canada, to the U.S. or to Sun Destinations. They provide three promo codes that you can choose from that will provide you with your choice of free checked bags, free seat selection or double Aeroplan points. Depending on what fare class, what your elite status is and even which Aeroplan credit card you hold can help you determine which promo code to choose if you are planning on booking any flights. The codes are as follows (click to make larger):

Air Canada Aeroplan Elite Status Priority Rewards explained

One of the new features that came with the revamped Air Canada Aeroplan program is the Priority Rewards benefit for elite status members. This exclusive new perk provides a 50% points discount on any flight reward that the elite member chooses to use it for. Their are limits as to what class and where the members can use them for based on their elite level. Those are as follows:

25K & 35K: Economy travel within Canada and between Canada and the U.S.
50K: Economy and Premium Economy travel within North America and to Sun destinations
75K: Economy and Premium Economy travel worldwide
Super Elite: Up to Signature/Business Class travel worldwide

As you can see the best option is reserved for the airline's best customers but even with that being said  Priority Rewards can provide great value for any level of elite member.

The Priority Reward vouchers are awarded to elite members each time they hit specific SQD thresholds:

Earn a voucher when you cross the 4,000, 7,000, 10,000 and 15,000 SQD thresholds, and for every 5,000 SQD earned above 15,000 SQD – up to a maximum of 50,000 SQD.

Vouchers do have to be used to book a flight within one year of them being awarded.

Once you have your vouchers they are really easy to use and can be redeemed on the Air Canada site or via the App. The vouchers will show up under the benefits tabs when you login to your account:

Image via Air Canada

And once you have reward booking search up you simply have to click on 'Select Priority Rewards' to see the discount applied to your search options

Image via Air Canada

Our resident 50K contributor Bill W. provided some screenshots of his Priority Rewards on how they look in his dashboard and to show them in action on a dummy booking between Vancouver and Honolulu.

 

Here's what a Vancouver to Honolulu reward flight looked like without a Priority Reward for an Air Canada 50K elite status member with an Aeroplan co-brand credit card:

and here is the same booking with a Priority Rewards voucher:

As you can see it prices out at exactly 50% of the initial points requirement for Economy Class. As Bill noted to me he wouldn't redeem it for this particular flight as the initial points requirement is big and since he is a 50K elite member he would be better off using it on a route that has Premium Economy class.  As mentioned earlier in the article if you are Super Elite you can use the voucher for business class as well for flights Worldwide so they get the full gamut of reward options to price out at 50%. As a Super Elite you most definitely would want to use the voucher for long hail international travel in business class but do watch those expiry dates on them - if long haul travel isn't in the picture due to the pandemic then look at somewhere closer where you can utilize the voucher, still in business class of course!

You can learn more about Air Canada's Priority Rewards here and also check out this video on YouTube about them:

Title Image via Air Canada

December 10 Update: Aeroplan extends generous refund policy to February 28, Choice Card from Amex added to site & an update to the Top 5 Cash Back offers

Here's your Rewards Canada Daily update! Your daily dose (or near daily dose) of loyalty program, credit card and travel news, bonuses, deals and more. This update is brought to you by the HSBC World Elite Mastercard.

 
The generous Aeroplan refund policy that allows you to change or cancel existing or new reward flights booking with a full refund of miles and the fees/taxes paid going back to your credit card is being extended to Feb 28, 21. This was revealed to us by Air Canada while recording the latest episode of our podcast that was released earlier today. Give it a listen here!

Image via Air Canada